Americans 'cranky, unhappy' about politics: Poll

Two words sum up the nation's mood in the latest NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll—fed up.

Six in 10 Americans are dissatisfied with the state of the U.S. economy; more than 70 percent of Americans believe the country is headed in the wrong direction; and nearly 80 percent are down on the country's political system.

"We're in the summer of our discontent," said Democratic pollster Peter Hart, who conducted this survey with Republican pollster Bill McInturff. "Americans are cranky, unhappy… It is with everything going on the world."

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That frustration carries over to the nation's political leaders, with President Barack Obama's overall approval rating hitting a new low at 40 percent, and with a mere 14 percent of the public giving Congress a thumbs up.

The discontent's two main causes

The NBC/WSJ pollsters attribute the wide discontent to the lingering effects of the Great Recession, as well as a loss of faith in the country's politicians.

Even though the recession ended years ago and even though the U.S. economy has created 200,000-plus jobs over the past six months, a plurality of Americans—49 percent—believe the economy is still in a recession. (However, that percentage is the lowest it's been since the Great Recession began, and 50 percent of respondents believe the economy is improving.)

What's more, a combined 71 percent say the recession personally impacted them "a lot" or "just some," and 64 percent say it's still having an effect on them.

Midterm forecast: A good—but maybe not great—year for Republicans

With the midterm elections less than three months away, the NBC/WSJ poll finds 44 percent of voters preferring a GOP-controlled Congress, and 43 percent preferring a Democratic-controlled one.

The good news for Republicans, according to GOP pollster McInturff: An incumbent president in the low 40s and seven-in-10 Americans thinking the country is on the wrong track is typically good for the opposition party.

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The not-so good news for the GOP: High interest in the elections is down from past midterm elections. And Republicans continue to trail among women by double digits.

November, McInturff says, is shaping up to be "a good Republican cycle, but not like the wave elections we saw in '06 or '10."

The NBC/WSJ poll was conducted July 30-Aug. 3 of 1,000adults, including 350 cell phone-only respondents and another 43 reached bycell (but who also have a landline). The survey's overall margin of error isplus-minus 3.1 percentage points.

— By Mark Murray, NBC News

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